Missing The Ground
by frostygossamer
Summary: Merlin is thrown off a cliff.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Merlin is thrown off a cliff.

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><p>Missing The Ground (Part 1) by frostygossamer<p>

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><p>Villainous Sir Badrot and his two beefy henchmen stood on the cliff edge, looking down on Prince Arthur and his knights at the cliff foot far below. One henchman held Merlin firmly by the leather collar secured around his neck. The other man gripped the upper arm of a beautiful country maiden in each enormous hand. Merlin stared ahead in stoic silence, the two girls whimpered pathetically.<p>

Arthur glared up at Sir Badrot, daring him to make good his threat.

"Choose", Sir Badrot shouted at him. "Choose who will die. The boy or the women."

As he spoke, the two henchman dragged their prisoners nearer the edge. The poor girls screamed and sobbed. Merlin remained composed.

Down below, Arthur cursed. The cliff had proved impossible to scale and Sir Badrot's determination was deadly. What an invidious choice to have to make. And yet there was only one choice possible.

Firstly, the rules of chivalry demanded that the safety of any female, whether a lady, a lowly woman or even a mere girl, took priority over that of any man or boy.

Secondly, there were not one but two women at risk and only one boy, so the laws of common logic decreed that saving two lives would be better than saving one.

Thirdly, the two females were members of a large family, all of whom would miss them and be angered by their loss, whereas Merlin had only his mother to grieve, and she wasn't even a citizen of Camelot.

Much as it upset Arthur to lose his favourite servant, and almost friend, in this dastardly way, his choice was obvious. It was a decision anyone would have taken, and no one would have wanted to take.

Of course there was one factor that might have swung it in Merlin's favour, but it was a factor of which Arthur was still as yet unaware. Merlin was a sorcerer, a sorcerer of great power, and one who would be a huge asset to Camelot and its future. This factor would have quite reasonably outweighed all the rest, if only Arthur had known about it. But he didn't.

"I'm sorry, Merlin", he yelled. "I am truly sorry", and he lowered his eyes, as did all his knights, none of them wishing to see Merlin's poor skinny body hit the ground.

And thus none of them was actually looking when it happened.

End Of Part 1


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: Merlin is thrown off a cliff.

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><p>Missing The Ground (Part 2) by frostygossamer<p>

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><p>Sir Badrot nodded to his henchman, who tugged Merlin's collar, dragging him towards the frightening drop. Merlin teetered for a moment on the crumbling edge, looking down towards the tiny figures on the ground below. He could make out Arthur. He was glad his friend wasn't looking.<p>

The henchman swung up his booted foot and planted it on Merlin's back, then gave a shove. Merlin wobbled, waved his arms in the air for a moment, trying to regain his balance, failed and plummeted towards the earth, headfirst.

Down on the ground, Arthur held his breath waiting for the crunch. The crunch didn't come. After a moment or two he was forced to take a breath, and he opened one eye, expecting to witness the horrible sight of his manservant's broken and crumpled body lying bleeding at the foot of the cliff. There was nothing there. Arthur opened the other eye and scanned the area. No Merlin. His knights exchanged surprised and confused noises.

Arthur stared defiantly up at Sir Badrot, but something was in the way. Something was moving about, flitting to and fro between him and Badrot, obscuring his view of the blackguard. Something he couldn't quite focus on.

Sir Badrot had his sword unsheathed and was jabbing at the movement erratically. The vision flew around the villain's head, alarming and confusing him. He tried to fend it off and, as he did so, staggered perilously closed to the edge, lost his footing and fell. The second henchman let go his prisoners and both henchmen ran.

The strange being flew down towards Arthur and landed in front of him.

The prince was gobsmacked.

End Of Part 2


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: Merlin is thrown off a cliff.

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><p>Missing The Ground (Part 3) by frostygossamer<p>

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><p>It was Merlin, obviously, with the addition of two small, iridescent wings poking out of the back of his tunic.<p>

"So you can fly?", Prince Arthur asked rather redundantly, as they rode back towards Camelot, Sir Gwaine having scampered of enthusiastically to rescue the two abandoned country virgins.

"Apparently", Merlin replied.

"And you have wings", Arthur continued. "How is it that I haven't noticed them before?"

"Because I've only just grown them", Merlin explained. "I was falling, then suddenly I had wings and I could fly. Just like that."

"I suppose it was magic", Arthur hazarded, suspiciously.

"Oh no!", Merlin replied, emphatically. "It definitely wasn't magic. That would be impossible in Camelot. No, I think they just grew naturally."

"Naturally?", Arthur echoed. "What's natural about a boy growing wings?"

"It runs in the family", Merlin ad-libbed. "I have a cousin who they say is quite a cherub, and an uncle who's a bit of a fairy, by all accounts."

Arthur didn't exactly believe any of that. But, hey, as long as his friend had an excuse, he was prepared to let it go. After all, he had already almost lost Merlin once today, and his nervous system couldn't stand much more of that, thank you.

"I think, Merlin", he said. "We should keep the exact details of what happened today from my father. Somehow I think his tolerance for humbug is somewhat lower than mine."

The End

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><p>AN: Just a bit of fun. Hope you liked it.


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